Former RCAF Station Winisk (SCS-500)

 abandoned / shut down, former air force base, early warning radar

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Built in 1957 atop a small promontory above the floodplain of the Winisk River outside of the native village of Winisk, RCAF Winisk was completed in 1958 and entered service as a Sector Control Station on the Mid-Canada Line. As a Sector Control Station, Station Winisk and its assigned crews were responsible for the monitoring, maintenance and operation of a string of 12 unmanned Doppler Detection Stations in its sector, which stretched Westward along the shore of Hudson Bay and across Manitoba to RCAF Station Bird.

To accomplish these tasks, the site was equipped with a large central Administration building, dormitories, mess hall and service, storage and support buildings, as well as a central Operations building housing the electronic, surveillance and site communications equipment. The station was also equipped with an expansive airfirled which served the needs of the assigned detachment of transport and airlift helicopters and aircraft tasked with bringing personnel and supplies to the remote sites for maintenance. The airfield also saw extensive use as a staging area for Transair Air, a civilian airline contracted with the US and Canadian governments to support the movement of men and material heading Northbound to aid in the construction of the eastern portion of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line.

Operating through the life of the Mid-Canada Line, RCAF Station Winisk was the Westernmost station of the MCL kept operational following the shutdown of all Western sector stations in January of 1964. Slightly over a year later, Winisk's MCL role came to an end as it and th rest of the Eastern Sector stations were formally shut down in April of 1965 as the role performed by the MCL became obsolete. Abandoned thereafter, today the station and airfield are in a badly degraded condition and are being targeted for extensive environmental remediation.

lswilson.dewlineadventures.com/scs500.htm